


We called ourselves the Guardians... looking back, 'idiots' would have fit better

by Outcasts_Anonymous



Category: Destiny (Video Games), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Bakugou Katsuki Has Nightmares, Bakugou Katsuki Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Divorced Todoroki Enji | Endeavor/Todoroki Rei, F/F, F/M, Forced Retirement, Gen, Good Parent Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, M/M, Midoriya Izuku Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Midoriya Izuku Needs A Hug, Midoriya Izuku is a Mess, Midoriya Izuku is a Problem Child, Nice Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Quirkless Snipe, Quirkless Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Retired Yagi Toshinori | All Might, SIVA (Destiny) - Freeform, Siva Has Homing Quirk, Siva Has One for All Quirk, Siva has Multiple Quirks, Siva has a Quirk, Symbol of Victory, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor is the Number One Hero, Yagi Toshinori | All Might Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24370030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outcasts_Anonymous/pseuds/Outcasts_Anonymous
Summary: One last arc of fire carved its way through the puppeted hero; splitting his former friend in half, and as a result, the strands of Siva that had been holding him together were finally cauterised, and the two body parts fell to the floor. At last, he could die."Such violence from the 'Symbol of Peace', I wonder how Nana would feel if she were to see you like this? Hm?" All Might felt his grip on the axe handle tighten, and if he still had his Quirk, he was sure he would have crushed the metal between his hands.His smile had fallen long ago; replaced by a stoic look of determination that stood steadfast as he and the other Guardians fought Siva back, but now? With no one left to reassure, All Might let that look of determination shift into a violent scowl as he turned to face down All for One.Throwing his axe to the side and letting its flames die out, All Might cracked his knuckles, and rolled his neck. If this was where he was to fall, he was going to do so on his own terms; ripping All for One's head from his body...
Relationships: Undecided
Comments: 9
Kudos: 24





	We called ourselves the Guardians... looking back, 'idiots' would have fit better

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Viridian and Ironsbane](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23375587) by [Syber_Slash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syber_Slash/pseuds/Syber_Slash). 



The four-way door shot open as they approached, just like the first one had; its blue lights flashing three times before each segment retreated into the walls of the grey octahedron, however unlike the first door; the one that had lead the trio into the infinite chasm they now stood above, this door lead to nothing; just a pitch black void. Midoriya and Tsubasa turned to each other, and then back to the chamber behind the door; a look of apprehension as clear as day on their faces.

With an annoyed sigh, Bakugou rolled his eyes before pushing his way between the two and storming into the room; his heavy footfalls against the metal bridge echoing all around them, before transitioning into the quiet crunching of broken glass. His eyebrows knitting together in confusion, the boy looked down; grinding his foot into the floor. Even when surrounded by it, the darkness that filled the chamber was impossible to see through without assistance, and so with all of the reasoning of an eight-year-old, Bakugou thrust out his palm towards the floor and set off a miniature explosion in an attempt at generating light. 

The resulting flash-bang caused both Midoriya and Tsubasa to cry out in pain; clutching at their eyes, whilst Bakugou, with the expletive of _'what the fuck'_ , fell backwards on to the glass; letting out a cry of pain as he felt each individual shard sink into the palms of his hands, and the upper half of his back.

"Holy _shit-!"_ Bakugou whimpered, his whole body instantly racked with shakes as he clenched his eyes shut to keep the tears he could feel forming from falling. "Deku g-get your... useless ass in h-here and pull me... up..!" He demanded; his voice horse and strained as he fought through the pain with everything he had to straight-up just speak.

Still rubbing his eyes from the aftermath of Bakugou's explosion, Midoriya pouted at the nickname; his heart sinking in shame. Even when his friend was asking him for _help_ he still had to call him Deku; still had to call him _useless_. It wasn't his fault he was born Quirkless. Bringing his arm down from his face, Midoriya spared a glance at Tsubasa, who merely nodded in the direction of the chamber, and then after a moment of nothing happening, pushed him towards the darkness with an eyeroll of his own. 

Stumbling to a stop just before he fell into the room, Midoriya turned to give the other boy a dirty look, before returning his attention to where Bakugou was laying. Or at least, where he _thought_ Bakugou was laying; again, with the unrelenting darkness, there was no way of telling.

Taking in a deep breath, Midoriya let his eyes drift closed- and as he released the breath he allowed himself to walk forwards into the void; the feeling of the smooth metal underfoot transitioning into the uneven mess of glass. Just like Bakugou had, Midoriya ground his foot into the floor- however _unlike_ Bakugou, he did so with a goal in mind. Clearing away the glass below his feet, Midoriya proceeded to shuffle forwards instead of walk, partially so he could create a clear, stable path for when Tsubasa joined them, and partially so that he wouldn't lose his footing when he tried to lift Bakugou, and end up sending both of them back to the ground.

After a few seconds of shuffling Midoriya's foot found the bottom of Bakugou's, and so the boy proceed to make his way around to the injured boy's side; his heart rate and nerves spiking when one particularly bold shuffle resulted in his foot coming off of the glass platform entirely. It only then occurred to Midoriya that, just like with the seemingly infinite chasm he had just come from, this room could to be comprised of nothing but a small bridge, and a terrifying drop.

Bringing the fallen foot back in-line with the other, Midoriya crouched down by his friend's side.

"Alright Kacchan, I'm gonna lift you now okay?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Deku! I- I don't give a s-shit what you do j-just f-fucking get me off the f-floor and get this glass outta me!" Choosing to ignore the fact that the boy was clearly sobbing; practically begging him, Midoriya reached out into the darkness until his hands found Bakugou's chest, and then proceeded to keep in contact with the boy's body as he dragged them down his side and pushed them under his back; being careful to avoid the glass burrowed into his skin.

Making a few small adjustments to his grip, Midoriya let out a low groan as he slowly hauled Bakugou back up and onto his feet; moving one of his hands to the boy's front to keep him balanced when he felt the blond start swaying back and forth. For an eight-year-old, Bakugou was fucking heavy... either that or Midoriya was just weak... it was probably that one now that he think about it.

"Oh God, Deku, I c-can't believe I'm e-even saying this but-" Bakugou mumbled; choking for a moment, as if he were going to throw up, and Midoriya prepared to move his hand so it wouldn't get on him. " _-Please_ , get this f-fucking glass outta me already!" The greenette deadpanned; letting out a breathy sigh and for the briefest of moments considering how bad of a beating he'd be in for if he were to just push the glass shards in further. He never understood why Bakugou made such a mountain out of a mole hill when it came to being polite.

"Hey! Uh, are you guys... um... doing _okay_ in there?" Turning his attention back to the chamber entrance he saw the outline of Tsubasa lent against the door frame; peering into the darkness. There were no lights in the chasm, other than the extremely weak ones that lined the edge of the bridge in place of a guardrail- but in comparison to how dark the chamber was, it was enough light to create a halo around the winged boy.

"Y-Yeah, we're good... kinda... can you help me get Kacchan back out of here? He really want's me to take the glass out of him but I can't even see it, and I don't think he can walk on his own, and... he's kinda... really... heavy..." Midoriya called back, readjusting his grip once again as Bakugou began to lean against him. Tsubasa scoffed, shaking his head as he slowly began to creep into the chamber with them; taking full advantage of the path Midoriya had made.

"Fucking hell Deku, you really are useless aren't ya; I still don't see why you think you have what it takes to be a hero; you're already Quirkless! Now you're telling me you can't even carry Bakugou?" The fat child taunted.

Midoriya bit the inside of his cheek as another wave of shame passed over him. It was one thing when Bakugou insulted him; insulted his _dream_ \- but when it was someone else... it always stung that little bit more. When it was Bakugou his mind was able to cushion the insult, if only by a bit; able to convince him that the boy didn't really _mean_ what he was saying; that he was just teasing.

His mind didn't offer the same kind of support with other people.

Silence took over the atmosphere once again as Midoriya waited for Tsubasa to reach them, and the boy couldn't help but feel unnerved. Aside from the shuffling of the other child's feet, it were as if nothing existed but him and Bakugou in the black void. There could be anything out there, really; in the dark; there could be rats or spiders or villains. Midoriya shuddered, choosing to end that train of thought before it had a chance to leave the station.

The shuffling sound ended when Tsubasa was next to him, on the other side of Bakugou that is, and from then it didn't take long for the boy to snake his own arms around the injured boy.

"Alright Deku; move on three?"

"R-Right"

"3... 2... 1-" As if by some twisted miracle, the doors to the chamber slammed closed as soon as the last number was spoken; the noise echoing around the boys loud enough to almost convince them it had been a gunshot. Both Tsubasa and Midoriya flinched; their arms tensing around Bakugou, who, if he had the ability, would've explodo-killed the both of them for the amount of extra pain it caused him- however if only because of the glass in his palms, the boy did something he didn't even know he could do, and restrained himself.

Tsubasa's eyes blew open wide and his heart rate spiked immediately as he stared intently into the darkness where the exit once was; now only identifiable by its pale blue lights. And as he stood there in the darkness, stock still, he felt something that could only be described as pure, un-adulterated fear. Not because of the initial noise, no, that would have been ridiculous; sure the loud noise might have made him jump; might have made his heartbeat become more chaotic, but ultimately the fear one feels from being shocked like that wears off as soon as you know that the threat has been dealt with, or more commonly when you realise that there isn't a treat at _all_.

No, this fear; this pure, primal urge that flooded his system with adrenaline; that turned off all of his body's non-essential functions; that forced his fight or flight reflexes to to the pique of their abilities, was caused by a slight flicker in the colour of the doors lights from blue, to _red_. 

One wouldn't be blamed for thinking that this might have been a tad bit of an over-reaction, but in reality one would have been wrong in that thought. You see, ever since coming down into the caves with Bakugou and Midoriya; ever since finding this place, the only two colours that Tsubasa had seen on the doors that they had found on their way to the chamber were blue, and red- and though he might not be the smartest dragon in the nest, identifying patterns isn't that complicated.

No matter how many explosions Bakugou had thrown at them, the red doors never opened.

Forgetting his job as a stabilisation pillar, Tsubasa was quick to take off into the darkness; the fear of tripping and falling that had been instilled in him the moment he had heard his friend's cries of pain being quickly and easily overwritten by his need to _get to the door_.

Midoriya stumbled for a moment as Tsubasa tore away; almost pulling the other two children with him as he went. Thankfully, Midoriya had been able to snap himself out of his own fear long enough to keep himself and Bakugou upright.

The lights flickered again as Tsubasa got closer, almost teasingly so- and once Tsubasa actually reached the door, the blue lights completely switched to the hauntingly familiar hazy red; bathing the winged boy as he threw his whole body into the metal as if he were able to break through it using his base strength alone. Bouncing off of the metal like one would have predicted, however, did not deter the scared child. His fists balled, the boy proceeded to slam them against the metal; yelling and screaming as if someone would be able to hear him from his place buried deep within the Earth.

"Open-! Up-! You-! _Fuckin'-!"_ Though Tsubasa probably intended to sound angry; perhaps in some half-baked plan to intimidate whoever or whatever had locked the door, it was clear from the cracks in his voice, and the desperate thuds; each one weaker than the last, that he was far from it.

" _-Asshole!"_ With one final slam, this time with his shoulder, Tsubasa allowed himself to rest against the door; breathing heavy from both the strenuous task of trying to force his eight-year-old body through reinforced steel, and from the fact that he still hadn't recovered from the initial shock of the door slamming shut. After a few seconds more, the boy slid down to the ground, and the chamber fell into near enough silence once again.

Midoriya's eyes, suddenly heavy, tempted the boy to close them- and after the emotional roller coaster he had just been on Midoriya was more than happy to indulge. It wasn't like there was much stimuli to block out in the darkness but that didn't stop the wave of euphoria that washed over him as he allowed them to rest. 

Focusing on Bakugou's breathing, Midoriya couldn't stop the worry from chasing away his peace however, as it became obvious just how hard he was struggling to take in air. Opening his mouth, Midoriya prepared to tell Tsubasa to get up; to tell him that they needed to keep going and try to find another way out, however paused when he heard the rumbling coming from Bakugou's throat.

"So, got any more bright ideas?" Bakugou croaked out, lifting his head from the slumped position it had been dangling in, and glaring at the area he assumed Tsubasa was laying. Closing his mouth, Midoriya reopened his eyes to do the same- though, without the glare.

"Come on Bakugou... I- I was just doing what _you_ would have!" Bakugou growled in irritation, pushing past his pain to make sure Tsubasa knew he was being annoying. Looking back down towards the ground, the blond shifted his feet into a new, more stable position; his legs having gone numb. Midoriya breathed a small sigh of relief as some of the strain on his muscles went away.

"I would'a blown that fuckin' door to pieces by now ya' God damn' extra-" The bite that normally came with his words was mostly lost as he hissed in pain; the shift in position giving him pins-and-needles, but out of habit Tsubasa tensed anyway.

"Awww, come on, why'd'ya have to call everyone-" A low hum made itself known as it echoed throughout the chamber; starting directly underneath Tsubasa and moving towards the centre of the room as if sweeping across the void. "-Extras..?" The boy squeaked.

All three of the boys felt their blood run cold and their hairs stand on end; a shiver even running down Bakugou's spine as everyone went on high-alert. Though they had heard plenty of weird noises in their adventure through the facility, none had sounded quite like this; like a scanner being forced through a tin can.

The hum sounded again, this time louder as it swept past them, and no one dared speak; hell no one dared breath, but, they kinda needed to breath to live so there wasn't much they could do about that. The hum sounded a third time, and following the pattern the past two had set, this one was even louder than the last.

However, whilst it may have followed the pattern in one way, it broke it in another.

As the hum reached its peak at the centre of the room the noise did not fade but instead began to crescendo; climbing louder and louder until it felt as if the children's very bones were vibrating below their skin, with the room being not too far behind.

With eyes clenched tight and jaw even tighter, Midoriya awkwardly positioned his hands over Bakugou's ears to try and dampen at least some of the pain, though he couldn't really tell if it was doing much. Glass shards bounced by his feet; some gaining air and nicking paper-cut-like scratches along the exposed skin of his ankles. Midoriya cursed; scowling as he tried to ignore the stinging sensation he was now being subjected to, and gaining even more of a respect for the boy in his arms than he already had.

It was a miracle Bakugou hadn't already passed out.

A few minutes went by before anything changed- and when it did, no one could really say if it was for the better or not. Tsubasa had taken advantage of his wings to dampen the noise before it reached him; wrapping them around himself as tight as he could, and with Midoriya's hands over his ears, Bakugou was blessed with near enough the same level dampening. Midoriya's own ears were ringing, and by this point he was pretty sure there was no skin left on his ankle un-cut, but he was putting up with it.

That however, wasn't what had changed. No what changed was the addition of the sound of generators firing up to the painful, cacophonic humming. It reminded Midoriya of their home boiler whenever he used the hot water, except as if that boiler's pipes were replaced by megaphones. Another noise would sound whenever one of these generators would reach their peak, this time a quick, heavy, thud; as if someone turning on stadium lights.

When all of the noise suddenly cut out, Midoriya became overwhelmed at the thought he had actually gone _deaf_ \- however, the confused noises of the other two children around him quickly assuaged him of the fear. His jaw un-clenched and his eyes loosened from their screwed up state almost instantly as the pressure that had been banging on his skull went away- and as if he expected something to have changed, he fully opened his eyes.

"Wait... wh... what? After all that, nothing _happ-‽"_ Midoriya had turned in the darkness to face Tsubasa's voice, however before he was even able to finish his sentence, all three children were struck with a very sudden, a very loud, and a very _painful_ feeling of deja-vu; all of their eyes clenching shut reflexively as with a loud bang, the chamber was flooded with light.

Tsubasa cried out with a growl; digging the palms of his hands into his eyes to rub at them, whilst Midoriya did his best to stop Bakugou from falling back to the floor; the flashbang causing him to accidentally let the boy go for a moment.

Their eyes adjusting to the light was just as painful of a process as it was the first time around, however where last time the experience was followed by hurt feelings and slight resentment, mixed with genuine fear for their safety- this time around; as the world came back into focus, no one present had room for those types of feelings. In fact, really, the only thing any of the children could feel, was awe.

More accurately, curiosity _turned_ awe- but the curiosity only lasted as long as it took for the world to change from the blurs of red and white and black, back to it's usual look.

Midoriya's jaw fell open as he slowly scanned the room; eyes stuttering from left to right as he took in the pillars of technology that he had no hope of understanding; as he took in the ruby vines that curled around those pillars and dug into them; that hung from the ceiling and forced themselves into the ground; as he took in the black diamonds that adorned them; and as he took in the beautiful ruby flowers that sprouted twice as tall as him, which covered a majority of the floor. He didn't understand any of it; he had no idea what he was looking at- but what he did know was that he was impressed.

The room itself was relatively simple, which in comparison to all he had just seen, was rather a downer. The walkway that he, Bakugou, and Tsubasa were resting upon was actually raised in comparison to the floor; standing around a meter higher than the ground, and underfoot was a smooth black metal; looking almost to be of the same material as the diamonds- though he couldn't be sure for the amount of glass shards that covered it. At the end of the platform were stairs that led down into the main area of the room- and only a few meters back from that, in the centre of the room, was a large, cylindrical column completely adorned in computer monitors; cracked; dusty, and overwhelmed by the ruby vines. The column itself wasn't looking very good either; covered in blast marks and huge scratches that left Midoriya wondering what could possibly be powerful enough to tear through it.

On either side of the column, an equal distance away and acting almost as support pillars, were two _more_ columns; nearly identical to the first though thinner, with smaller screens. The vines on these pillars were thicker; more constricting, like one would picture a cobra choking their prey; their diamonds also being larger.

At the back of the room there were more stairs, this time leading up to a platform around the same height as the one they were currently resting on, however this one stretched to cover the whole of the back few walls, whereas theirs was just a straight rectangle. On the back right wall were windows that looked like they hadn't been cleaned in centuries; also covered in burn marks. Why this room would need windows was a mystery, but one mystery at a time.

The floor itself was completely covered in a mixture of the strange flowers and debris, though from where the debris came Midoriya couldn't tell; the roof, other than the explosions of vines burrowing _through_ and _down_ from it, was completely intact. Vines also slithered across the floor, though they were thinner, and weren't bundled together like the others; these were individual strands.

"I... Is that a computer? Maybe we can use that to open the door?" Tsubasa pointed to a terminal that rested to the left of their platform; a small, dinky one that barely reached Midoriya's head height. The only time Midoriya had ever really used a computer was when he was watching All Might videos, so unless that was the key to unlocking the door then he doubted he'd be able to actually do much- but at the end of the day he _also_ knew that he was the only one in the room with any semblance of an idea as to how to _use_ a computer, so with a sigh, Midoriya nodded his head.

"A-Alright, come grab Kacchan and I'll go look..." Giving a few light nods of his own as he stood, Tsubasa pushed himself back against the door and walked himself to his feet. Trading Bakugou off, Midoriya made his way over to the terminal; brushing the glass out of his way as he went once again. The terminal looked more like an old school cash register than anything; it's small screen being surrounded by a bulky frame; it's only input being two square-shaped keypads; one being aligned with the centre of the screen, and the other being on a lower down platform and off to the right.

Unlike the rest of the room, the terminal actually looked to be in near perfect condition; if not for the dust that caked it, Midoriya would have thought it to be a new addition to the chamber. The actual keys themselves showed no signs of use either, implying that if this thing had ever been used, it had been done so scarcely.

There was no obvious 'on' button, so after a moment of hesitation the boy pressed down on a random button. There was a rather pronounced 'click', and the screen instantly booted to life just like how a computer would if you were to move the mouse during hibernation. On the screen itself was an MS-DOS command window, and in the background a ruby, faded symbol was overlaid on the blackness; though he had no idea what it represented, the colour left him guessing that it represented the vines.

At the top of the screen was a blinking 'greater-than' symbol; he remembered that one from maths class. But what caught the boy's attention, was that it seemed as if there were more text _above_ the symbol; the bottoms of letters being seen peaking from the top of the screen. A quick swipe of his finger down said screen revealed that it _wasn't_ in fact a touch-screen monitor, however Midoriya didn't have much time to digest this information as the crunching of glass caught his attention.

"Woahhh, these are so _pretty..._ " Midoriya's head shot up towards Tsubasa, who was in the process of walking down the steps into the main area of the chamber, with a noticeable _lack of Bakugou_ by his side. Turning to look where they had been standing before he also saw another noticeable lack of Bakugou. In fact, it took him looking all the way back to the door to find any trace of the blond, who had been sat slouched against it; breathing heavy as dark red ran from his palms- and, if Midoriya was seeing right, his back; the blood soaking into his shirt.

"Tsubasa why'd you put Kacchan down! I though you said you were gonna hold him!" Tsubasa ran his hand down the thick 'stem' of the ruby flower; his head tilted upwards to look beyond it's strange petals; transfixed by the glowing orange node that sat at its centre. When he didn't answer him, Midoriya turned back to look at Kacchan. Bakugou raised his head to stare back at Midoriya; his eyes struggling to focus as he rolled them.

"It'sfi ne nerd!Hetook the glass outtame s o jus focus on gettingusou ta here!" His words slurred together, though thankfully Midoriya was able to tell what the boy had said. With a worried grimace, he slowly turned away from Bakugou and back to the terminal. He had to figure out how to use it, and he was running out of time. His first though was to just type the words 'open door', but given that neither of the two keypads actually held enough letters combined to even _spell_ that, he was back to square one.

"It's kinda fuzzy, like, static from an old TV!" Midoriya looked back over to Tsubasa, who was entertaining himself by moving his palm back and forth, towards, and then away from the orange node. Though only Tsubasa could hear it, each time he got closer the node would emit a buzzing sound, getting louder the closer he got, and quieter the further away he was.

"M- Maybe you shouldn't do that Tsubasa... it- it could be dangerous..." Once again, Midoriya received no response, and so he went back to his job. Crouching down to rest on the balls of his feet, and with one hand resting on the right off-shoot, the boy looked over the lower half of the terminal for anything that could help him. Sadly, there was nothing; no instructional stickers; no removable panel to access its insides; _nothing_.

"I guess there's only one thing I can really do at this point..." Standing back up, Midoriya looked over the two keypads. Both were three-by-three; and whilst the main one had unknown symbols covering each button, the ones on the right didn't have _anything_ covering them. Biting his lip, he hovered his finger over the central symbol; the button he had pressed to bring the terminal out of hibernation in the first place.

Not wanting to draw out the inevitable any longer, he quickly brought his finger down in one quick motion, almost as if he were afraid of it burning him. The result was more text appearing on the screen, and much to Midoriya's annoyance, he barely understood any of it. The words were far too big and complicated and they didn't look friendly in the _slightest_.

> Siva command chain has been frozen, the submitted command [...] will be queued upon unsuspension. Biometric identifier crippled, in order to commence with unsuspension, please provide biological manual direct-override.

"Hey! What the..?" Midoriya's head shot back up to Tsubasa, and he could tell almost instantly that something was wrong. The boy's hand was pressed flat against the node, and though he tried to pull himself back from it- he appeared well and truly stuck. His feet barely touched the floor, so he couldn't generate much in the way of traction, however even using his wings to blow himself backwards wasn't enough to separate the two of them.

With a low growl, Tsubasa switched tactics; not wanting to continue with that tactic after it didn't work the first time he tried it. Using his captured hand to his advantage, the boy pulled himself towards the node; his wings flapping behind him to assist his attack. With all of the speed and strength that a chubby flying boy could achieve with less than a metre's run up, Tsubasa's fist struck out, and before he made contact, Midoriya saw another sentence appear on the terminal. He didn't turn to read it however, being far too focused on what was about to happen.

As soon as Tsubasa's fist struck the node, the whole flower began to expand with a bright glow before completely detonating. The 'petals'; the vines that composed its body, and the node itself all exploding into nothingness as the winged boy was thrust backwards into the staircase he had come down. This, however, was only the beginning.

The explosion had also caught Bakugou's attention who, in his state of delirium, actually looked worried for Tsubasa. It wasn't Tsubasa however, that he, nor Midoriya, were focused on- at least not right now. No, their attention had been captured by the floating mass of red that hovered where the flower had once stood. The red mist seemed to flow into itself like one would expect a floating ball of water to, and if he strained his hearing, Midoriya could swear it was buzzing.

With stiff movements, Midoriya looked to the terminal to read the message that had come through. He didn't understand this one much more that the last, but he knew it was just as, if not more, important.

> Direct manual biometric override accepted, please allow a moment for the Siva command chain to resume...

The sound of Hell's boiler heating up echoed around the chamber once more, and this time the room shook violently to accompany it; as if an earthquake had struck. The three pillars in the centre of the room all seemed to come to life as lights, buried behind the vines now identified as Siva, faded on; red; just like everything else. The computer monitors on the pillars, as well as the one on the terminal, all crackled to life as well; all displaying an orange variant of the logo he had seen in the background of the Terminal.

As well as all of this however, much to the mortification of the still pained Tsubasa, every one of the flowers in the room detonated in near perfect synchronisation; each explosion generating more of the red clouds of flowing mist.

"Y'know Deku... somtntellsme that that wasnthedoorcontrol..." Bakugou grumbled; his head hanging loose on his neck as he gave up trying to keep it righted, in favour of staring at the scene playing out.

A new message appeared on the terminal, below the newly added logo overlay, and as soon as it did, everything seemed to blur together for Midoriya. He watched as all of those clouds of mist began to converge upon Tsubasa, and he watched as they started to make the boy scream; started to make the boy writhe on the stairs. They started with his skin and his hair; like a pack of bloodthirsty carnivorous bees, the mist ate away at them piece by piece; dismantling him with ruthless efficiency, as if he were nothing more than a pile of Lego bricks. From what he could tell, the boy wasn't even given the courtesy of bleeding, as the mist ate away at his blood as well.

Then, it moved on to his muscles and his eyes; burrowing into the fleshy meat to eat from the inside out like maggots. Midoriya was pretty sure he'd evacuated the contents of his stomach at this point, though he couldn't quite be sure of anything at that moment. His whole body felt as if it had gone numb, and full blown shock was on its way soon. Bakugou on the other hand was actually rather lucky. If only because of his current injury, he was unable to fully process what was actually happening; his mind being too far gone thanks to the blood loss.

Tendrils of Siva snaked their way across the floor towards what was left of a barely conscious Tsubasa, before threading itself between what remained of the boy's muscles, and wrapped themselves around his bones; entangled themselves around his nervous system, and coiled around his spine all the way up to the brain stem. Then, like he were some kind of Lovecraftian puppet, Siva made the boy stand to attention on his feet as the last of his muscles were taken away.

His wings were taken at the same time his muscles had been; the leathery and colourful appendages being taken with ease by the mist, thought thankfully, he had finally passed out from shear pain before the process was begun. His wings had always been the most sensitive part of his body, to have them taken apart whilst he was still conscious would have probably outright killed him, which only begged the question of 'did Siva know that, and wait on purpose?'.

The last things to go were Tsubasa's internal organs; held in place now only by Siva, they were vanished from top to bottom in no more than a second; all the while Siva had been wrapping itself tighter around the skeleton; creating its own bonds to hold it in place, whilst also keeping a more gentle hold on the boy's brain and nervous system as it began to artificially progress them. It was quite a sight to see really, and one that Midoriya would never be able to forget.

The screaming had stopped quite some time ago, but only when nothing but those two things remained of Tsubasa did silence settle, and Midoriya with blurred vision and a tight, constricting feeling crushing his chest, look upon the still standing remains of his classmate. A second passed, or maybe two, or three- or maybe even a minute or an hour, before to Midoriya it seemed that Siva moved once more. 

The clouds that had been eating away at Tsubasa backed off from the 'corpse', and the black diamonds that were resting on the larger Siva tendrils deconstructed themselves into even more clouds- before the clouds, both new and old, began to whirr their way around the room; assimilating loose and unneeded Siva tendrils into the ever amassing amount of red; only leaving be the tendrils wrapped around the pillars, for reasons beyond Midoriya's comprehension.

And then, once the Siva clouds had finished cleaning the room of all the material it could spare, they began to re-converge upon the reinforced skeleton; a new task needing to be completed; a new purpose needing to be fulfilled. The clouds began to orbit the bones and the brain as they spun it a new body; a new flesh; one far stronger than any normal human's; one far more enhanced.

One made of Siva.

The vines wove their way around the bones like snakes; pulling so tight that one might believe they wanted to burrow deep into the very marrow they were shaping themselves around, and slowly; ever so slowly, Tsubasa's original form began to reappear- though, there still being a few key differences. The main one being that the fake skin he had been given was completely void of pigment; an undead grey- with the next noticeable change being the being's lack of wings.

There should have been something more, on his mind; something, more, pressing, than that, but upon noticing the lack of wings only one thought seemed to pass through Midoriya's head; seemed to temporarily distract him from the haunting images searing themselves into his mind. Tsubasa, for what he was now, was Quirkless. The not-boy's eyes flew open, and Midoriya's urge to throw up returned with gusto; the temporary distraction failing in tandem as they held each other's gaze.

They were a violent red, not unlike Bakugou's in that regard, however where that boy's eyes shone with pride and hatred and _disgust_ , these eyes just... were. They were dead; glazed over without the glaze, as if looking a thousand miles away, but still focused on the here and the now. Or more accurately, focused on Midoriya. Where the whites of his eyes should have been, was instead the same black-looking material that had comprised the original diamond shapes, and the actual irises were glowing like they were the relatives of a laser pointer.

It took all of his willpower to do so, but Midoriya purposely dragged his foot backwards and away from the not-boy; trying his hardest to make as little noise as he could, but ultimately failing as its eyes snapped to the appendage. Why he dragged his foot backwards he didn't know; his only goal at the time being to _get away_ , but now that he think about it, there was nowhere to get away _too_. The door was still locked, after all.

A nearly inaudible moan came from behind him, and though Midoriya hadn't heard it, the not-boy did; his eyes once again snapping; this time from Midoriya's foot to Bakugou- and after following its line of sight, Midoriya gained a new reason for stepping backwards.

Right now, he was the only thing standing in the way of it hurting Bakugou even further.

Taking in a deep breath, as shaky as it was, Midoriya felt himself become filled with a new sense of determination; shuffling a second foot backwards into a rough south-paw stance. The not-boy's eyes shifted back to him, and though no discernible emotion made itself known on its face, Midoriya could feel the anger flowing over him like waves at his apparent act of defiance.

His throat was tight, however Midoriya still found himself able to perform a painful gulp. Raising his shaking fists to cover his face caused the not-boy to tilt its head in confusion, and before Midoriya could even think about what he was going to do next, the clouds of Siva that had not been consumed in the rebuilding process began to buzz aggressively as they floated up behind their creation.

Midoriya only broke eye contact for a second at the most to stare at the clouds, however that second of distraction was all the not-boy needed to begin his attack. The clouds shot forwards towards Midoriya at a speed far greater than they had when cleaning the room, and in response Midoriya's breath caught in his throat and all of his limbs froze up.

The buzzing grew louder the closer the clouds came, and it was only when said clouds were mere inches from his face; only when his mind flashed with images of what happened when they had touched Tsubasa, did his limbs unfreeze, and allow Midoriya to dodge; rocking back onto his heels and jumping with as much force as his scrawny body could produce.

He grit his teeth together before landing, expecting to suffer the same fate as Bakugou, however found himself relieved as the only pain he felt was the impact of his back against the walkway; having landed in an area previously cleared of glass. Midoriya didn't have time to relax however, as his eyes shot open to track the clouds. A pit formed in his stomach as he watched them fly towards Bakugou, however that pit was quickly filled with a morbid sense of relief as they slingshotted around in the air to continue their attack on _him_.

With one arm already hanging off of the side of the walkway, Midoriya's next move was already determined for him. The boy waited for the clouds to come close once again, through this time he didn't bother to leave it down to a few inches before throwing himself off of the platform in a bastardised pencil roll. It took a little longer for him to hit the ground this time, and when he did Midoriya found himself without any air in his lungs- which, to be fair, was a small price to pay for still _having_ his lungs.

Letting out a pained groan Midoriya pushed himself onto his back in one final burst of energy, before allowing his arms to fall at his sides as he heaved for air. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the Siva clouds reached the room's walls before slingshotting back around to rush at him. Midoriya didn't want to move; he knew it would be painful, but he also knew that if he didn't he'd _die_ , so as Siva charged at his prone form, he re-clenched his jaw and rolled for a third time.

The Siva cloud struck the floor where he was just laying and sparks flew through the air; a detail that most would have either missed, or brushed off- but Midoriya had always had a knack for the details. Sparks meant that the clouds were being generated by something physical, and therefore they could be defeated. Of course, that was only if Midoriya didn't burn to death in the _explosion_ of _fire_ the sparks seemed to generate.

The instantaneous heat that caressed his skin was a feeling the boy certainly hadn't expected to experience, and if the docile floating Siva cloud was anything to go off of, then even _it_ hadn't predicted the blast. Midoriya's first instinct had been to look up at the platform he had fallen from; expecting to see Bakugou there; palm outstretched as he tried to play hero- but was shocked to see no one. Instead, the clang of a hammer on an anvil echoed around the chamber, and Midoriya looked down. Just off to his left; originally tucked into the corner, was a large, flaming axe, laying flat against the floor between Siva and him.

Midoriya pushed himself up to his knees; the fatigue that had been weighing him down melting from his bones with each lick of the flames against his face; his arms; his clothes. The metal that made up the axe head was engraved with what looked to be a tree, and wrapped around the head in a cross pattern were chains. The way the fire danced along the branches and made the leaves glow was entrancing; beautiful, and if not for the aggravated buzzing making itself once more known to him, the boy would have gladly stayed to stare at the weapon for hours.

His eyes flickering up to the Siva cloud Midoriya shot out a hand to grab at the axe's long handle, before throwing himself backwards off of his knees and onto his feet. The axe was comically large in the eight-year-old's hand; a two handed weapon designed for the largest of adults being casually held in his _one_ hand with no effort on his part to do so, but Midoriya couldn't find it in himself to care.

Whatever the axe was, it was clearly something capable of stopping the Siva cloud; after all, a machine wouldn't have paused like that directly in front of its target if it could go through the fire. A machine doesn't have that kind of fear.

Determination shot through the boy's body in droves with the axe now in hand. Holding on to the handle with both hands now, Midoriya held the axe as if it were a baseball bat as he stared Siva down; his heart pounding in his ears as the world fell away. When Siva made no move to attack, Midoriya narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the handle; refusing to let his guard down.

When Siva finally decided to move, Midoriya was quick on the swing; ready to bat the glowing red ball as if he were scoring a home run. From the axe came a curve of fire, which tore through the air like a hot knife to butter; warping the very air around it as it careened into the walkway; exploding into a ball of flames that would make even Bakugou proud, and leaving a black mark on the wall that would disappoint his mother if she saw it.

Of course, life is never easy; not for Midoriya Izuku, oh no. You see, what it took him a good minute to realise after the initial swing was the Siva hadn't moved- or at least, not _towards him_. No, as Midoriya turned to the right to make his way over to the stairs, he felt the ghost of a smile that had been forming on his face shatter into thousands of nano particles.

The Siva clouds had made their way back to the not-boy, who stood still at the base of the stairs; his eyes drilling into Midoriya's very soul, and were moving around their creation with vigour; almost dancing.

With another determined breath, Midoriya took up his batters stance for a second time, trying his best to return the dead glare. It was then that Siva's true intentions were revealed. The not-boy's skin began to dissolve back into its artificial body; leaving the sinew-looking tendrils on display, before those very tendrils began to grow; began to expand and began to stretch. Where as 'not-boy' had been a respectful way to say that this _thing_ was no longer Tsubasa, there _was_ no respectful way to address what the not-boy was warping into.

The only word that Midoriya could really think of was 'monster'.

What once had been a small, fat child, now looked like nothing less than All Might's sleep-paralysis demon; with muscles far bigger than that of the former number one hero, and likely even far bigger than the symbol of victory's. The monster stood well over seven feet tall; Midoriya having to bend his neck all the way back to see the thing's face, and had arms that to him seemed bigger than the pillars holding the room up. It's legs looked thick enough to snap tree-trunks between, and Midoriya had no doubt that the monster could kick its way into _Tartarus_ if it so wanted to.

With their eyes still holding contact, the monster fully turned to face Midoriya; its skin finally growing back- though, not the same as it was before. Where before the skin had made the not-boy look like a greyed-out Tsubasa, this new skin barely even looked to fit the descriptor _of skin_. Smooth black plating lined the tendrils like body armour, and over the monster's joints were Siva diamonds; offering protection whilst not hindering its movement. As for its face, the black plating had fused in such a way that resembled the knight helmets of old, and the monster's eyes glowed through the slit like some time-warped android.

A beat of silence passed as both parties tried to will the other to back down, and Midoriya found himself cringing slightly as the flames of the axe would waft near him- though he didn't let it show. It wasn't that he was afraid of them, or that they were too hot, it was just that they smelled a little too much like Bakugou's explosions, and for the past few years those explosions hadn't exactly come with fond memories for the boy.

A pained cough interrupted their battle of wills, and as if living up to the saying 'speak of the Devil, and he shall appear', Bakugou let forth a tiny firecracker of an explosion; barely large enough to even produce light. Both heads turned to where the boy was supposed to be slumped, and Midoriya couldn't describe the feeling he got seeing the child pushing himself to his feet; back pressed hard against the door. For a moment, Midoriya was terrified that Siva had gotten to Bakugou too, however felt himself relax when he realised the red skin Bakugou had was from his blood... he was once again terrified when he realised the red skin Bakugou had was from his _blood_. 

The monster turned to Midoriya; a cruel smirk making its was onto its artificial face, and let forth a roar on par with the room-shaking hum of minutes ago. The boy grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes. The noise hurt, there was doubt about it, but after having already experienced that kind of pain, this time, the boy had been expecting it.

The monster turned once more towards Bakugou and this time began to book-it towards the boy; not even needing to use the staircase in front of it as a single step brought it to the top of the platform. Seeing the speed at which the creature moved, Midoriya scrambled to swing the axe again.

Bringing the blade around, another arc of fire shot forth from the axe, and Midoriya found himself spinning out thanks to the resulting momentum. The arc of fire struck the monster mid-run, sending it off of the other side of the platform with a growl of assumedly pain.

Not wanting to stick around any longer than needed, Midoriya turned to the axe and quickly yanked it back out of the floor. Bakugou could be heard in the background, yelling at him, through what he was actually saying Midoriya couldn't tell. Slurred speech was easy enough to understand; before his father had left that had been one of the few things the old man had taught him, but whatever Bakugou was trying to say wasn't even slurred- it was just _noise_ at this point.

Making a break for the staircase, Midoriya couldn't help the way his muscles tensed as the monster rose from the floor; its movements heavy and deliberate; a hole still missing in its side with the edges ablaze. The thing had enough of those black diamonds to regenerate, and though he should probably be happy with the fact that it _wasn't_ , Midoriya couldn't help but feel worried.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Midoriya skid to a halt as the monster's arm came crashing down before him; mere centimetres from having turned him into a liquid pulp. Sparks and shards of glass flew into the air on impact, and all the boy could do to not get hurt by it was close his eyes. It wasn't an effective defence if the new thin cuts that stung his face was anything to go off of, but at least his eyes weren't hurt.

After another more subdued roar from the monster, it yanked its arm backwards and out of the miniature enclave it had created in the walkway; even more sparks flying from the wound with each harsh movement, and the sounds of steel grating on steel making Midoriya's skin crawl. Taking an instinctual step back, the boy cracked his eyes open slightly and watched as the monster freed itself, and as the sparks flew into his axe's fire, as if they were magnetized to each other.

With a quick swipe of his axe to the right, an arc of fire found its mark in the monster's throat; sending the hulking beast flying backwards once more, this time with enough force to slam it into the chamber's wall. If he weren't wheezing with every breath, and struggling to see anything more than just a blur of colours, Bakugou would have burst a blood vessel at seeing such a feat of power come from Midoriya- however as he was now, in his current state, he wouldn't have been hard pressed to guess that he didn't have any left to _burst_ , so he did something else instead.

He poured all of his remaining energy into yelling. Not an expletive, not an insult, but one, single, simple word.

"DOOR!" Snapping his attention back to Bakugou, Midoriya wasted no time in running over to him; vaulting over the hole in the walkway as if it were second nature. He understood perfectly what Bakugou wanted him to do. Raising his axe as he ran, he gave a quick nod to Bakugou, who in response gave up all of his hard worked effort, and sank to the ground like a stone in a lake.

The axe blade slammed into the door with enough force to shatter its lights, as well as bend the very metal the door was made of, though sadly, the metal did not break. The sound it made as it caved in on itself was comparable to that of a car being crushed, though it was hard to focus on _that_ sound when the sound of the monster clambering back onto the walkway was that _much more_ attention grabbing.

A quick glance over his shoulder was all it took for the boy to rip the axe from the melting scrap and swing again; the sight of the creature shaking its head like a bull preparing to charge replenishing his energy levels. Fire flew forth from the axe, and like a concussive blast, shot what remained of the door from its frame; sending the metal flying into the abyss on the other side, though not before skidding across the bridge.

"K-Kacchan! Quick the... the door's gone, we've got to go!" Turning to look down at his friend; his mouth a grim line, Midoriya cast the axe behind him and crouched to grab a hold of the boy with both his arms. As soon as the axe left his hand, Midoriya felt the strength he had been borrowing fade instantly, however out of pure adrenaline, managed to haul the dead-weight to his feet. Bakugou let out a groan that, were he fully conscious, would have probably been an insult, but Midoriya didn't care.

The muscles in his legs burned with each step he took, but regardless the boy used them to push himself and Bakugou out of the chamber and back onto the bridge- and even as his back began to scream at him to stop, Midoriya continued to push himself even further onward than that. Bakugou's legs dragged behind the pair as if he were paralysed from the waist down, and each time his feet would catch on a small lip or an old indent it would nearly trip him, but the booming sounds of the monster's footsteps behind them was all the encouragement Midoriya needed to not let them collapse.

It was as the pair arrived at the middle of the bridge that another shock of cold, added on to the pain he was already experiencing, ran down Midoriya's spine- as the boy realised that the footsteps had stopped, and had been momentarily replaced by the grinding of metal on metal; like a tortuously long chord on a violin. Against his better judgement, Midoriya paused for a moment; his chest heaving, and turned to look back at their pursuer.

The boy only had as long as it took to blink to throw himself and Bakugou to the floor, as the axe he had discarded flew overhead; still unlit, though no less dangerous. Spluttering as he choked on his own spit, Midoriya looked up through squinting eyes to see the monster stood by the door- or rather where the door used to be, with its arm outstretched. The axe he had thrown flew back over them like a demented boomerang, though it showed no signs of being tampered with by Siva- and instead of returning back to the monster's hand, it instead flew further into the chasm to loop around the octahedron.

As soon as it disappeared behind the chamber, Midoriya made to pull Bakugou and himself back up, however found himself unable to stand from his knees. It didn't matter how tight he grit his teeth, or how hard he pushed at his muscles, his body was starting to reach its limit- and not even the power of friendship and determination could override basic human biology, unless of course someone had a Quirk that could do that, but that's missing the point.

"K... Kacchan! P-Please, j-just... help me stand," Bakugou shifted in his arms, though made no noise to acknowledge that he had heard the other boy; manoeuvring himself onto his knees in a similar way to how Midoriya was stuck.

"Onthree, k?"

"Y-Yeah, on three!"

"3... 2... 1!" Both boys channelled what little energy they had left into their legs; thrusting themselves forwards and off of the floor into a stumbling run, though before either got the chance to celebrate their little victory, it was already dashed to shreds by the sight of the incoming axe Midoriya had spotted in his peripherals. In those last few seconds before the axe struck, Midoriya knew he had a choice to make; a choice he had been avoiding making from the beginning.

The axe gave whoever held it energy, that much was clear, and _with_ that energy they'd have a chance to escape- but _even_ _with_ that energy; _even if_ both of them held on to it as they hobbled their way out of the cave, they'd still have to fight that _monster_. And as long as they were using the axe to move, they wouldn't be able to use it to fight.

One of them had to stay behind. One of them had to keep the monster busy. And Midoriya knew that it had to be him.

Bakugou had his whole life ahead of him; he had a great quirk; he came from a well-off family- he was practically a prodigy in the making. And what of Midoriya? His future was never going to be bright... He was Quirkless; his mother and him lived off of a mixture of his father's child support and benefits; his grades, though he had the intelligence to rival Bakugou, were always low due to illegal meddling on the school's part. 

At the most, Midoriya was destined to run himself into the ground; working a boring desk job whilst his life past him by. He'd remain alone; he'd grow empty, and at last, once his mother had died and there was no reason for him to remain, he would join her- just like his peers had always encouraged.

The decision was obvious, really- but, if he were to look on the bright side of things; a difficult thing to do situation considered, at the very least Midoriya could die being the one thing he had been told for the past four years that he /couldn't/ be.

A hero.

Before the blades of the axe could drive their way through the two boys, Midoriya pushed Bakugou forwards, and consequently he himself fell backwards. In between them, the axe lodged itself into the walkway; nearly digging all the way through to the other side. Unable to stop himself, Midoriya rolled backwards and flew off of the bridge; panicked hands lashing out to grab at the floor to stop himself from falling. His grip loosened to a near-deadly level as his whole body jerked to a halt, but through sheer force of will, the boy held on.

Bakugou let out a groan of pain as he too collided with the ground; his arms not swinging around fast enough to break his fall. The monster, now without usable axe, continued its march towards them- and it was all Bakugou could do to drag himself around just enough to look back. His eyes found Midoriya first; watching as his arms shook violently as he attempted to pull himself up, before they drifted over to the hulking figure of what used to be his best follower.

His body was screaming at him to attack the creature; to leap to his feet and throw explosion after explosion at it until its faux-skin tore apart, but another part of him; a part of him that he knew to be shutting down, told him that if he released even a single explosion as big as he usually did, then his hand would probably break from the recoil.

"K-Kacchan..! The... the axe," Midoriya growled out, drawing the blond's attention back over to him. His eyes were scrunched up, and his mouth was taught in a feral snarl as he lugged himself back onto the bridge. Bakugou felt his eyes begin to dry up, and he was afraid to blink; with how tired he felt, he wouldn't have been surprised if he fell asleep the minute they closed; though, he knew he didn't have much choice.

"If... If you make the axe do the flame-y thing," Midoriya paused for a moment to suck in air, "Then when you grab it, it'll give you enough energy to get out of here! I'll stay behind to... to distract it!" Now had it been any other situation, Bakugou would have probably been content to just do exactly as the nerd was saying, and leave him behind; he wouldn't have even considered wasting his breath on him, but...

No one deserves being left to that creature.

"Kacchan! Hurry up and grab the axe! You... you don't have much time left!" Looking finally at the axe, Bakugou began to drag himself over towards it in a pained army crawl; trying his best to not hurt himself further on any of the shattered bits of bridge metal that had been flung around from the initial impact. There were no sparks coming from the floor, meaning he'd have to use his Quirk to turn the thing on. Midoriya had already begun his self-sacrificial plan by the time Bakugou had made it back to the axe; having started to hobble towards the monster.

Gently laying the palm of his hand against the surprisingly cold blade, Bakugou activated his Quirk. With a small twitch of his hand, an explosion smaller than even a firecracker was released and the axe immediately lit up like a bonfire. Bakugou would have jerked away from the fire in surprise had he had the energy, but thankfully the fire did nothing to hurt him; instead, where his palm was still pressed to the axe, he felt the cuts on his hand begin to seal themselves closed.

Slowly and shakily, Bakugou began to run his palm up and along the blade until he reached the top of the handle, where the two parts connected, and gripped as strong as he could. He definitely felt the burst of energy Midoriya had told him about, but it was infuriatingly not enough to keep fighting with. Awkwardly manoeuvring his body around, Bakugou then reached out with his other hand to a place higher up on the handle than his first hand, and began the arduous process of dragging himself back onto his feet. 

Midoriya was barely able to stand; his whole body hunched as he made his way directly towards the creature; his hands occasionally brushing against the ground, which he would then use to push himself just that little bit back higher. The creature in turn looked down at his pathetic form, and whether it was just delirium or whether it actually did, to Midoriya, it seemed to laugh at him. Despite everything, the literal death march that Midoriya had willingly gone on did not take aeons like most would have expected; time did not slow around him for his final moments, no instead, it was in the span of mere seconds that the two were in striking range of each other.

And strike they did. Well, strike and dodge, I suppose.

With a throaty growl, the monster raised a hulking fist above his head and threw it down in the exact spot that Midoriya had walked to, only to find himself vaguely irritated as the boy, against all odds, threw himself out of the way of the strike. Where the monster struck, the bridge caved; creaking and groaning under the sudden pressure. But the monster didn't care. The monster just turned to where the crying form of Midoriya lay, still struggling to stand back up, and reared back for another strike.

Without warning, an arcing strike of fire hit the beast in its right shoulder; disintegrating the tendrils that held it together like a hot knife through butter, and once again the monster roared out in pain; staggering before turning towards his new aggressor. Stood on shaking legs, in a stance far too wide and with the comically large axe in hands, was Bakugou; head drooped though held firm.

"K- Kacchan... wh- Run! Please, just... just _run!"_ Midoriya screamed; his throat burning as he tried to blink the tears from his eyes. Bakugou looked down at the boy; his jaw clenched tighter than he ever thought possible, before he flicked his attention back to the monster. The monster didn't look back at him however; its eyes still locked on the axe. If he couldn't stay and fight, he could at least damage the thing enough to give Midoriya a fighting chance. 

Pivoting on his right foot, Bakugou turned to walk towards the exit; allowing the axe to spin around in a large arc across his body, before launching a second wave of fire behind him at the monster. Within seconds, the fire exploded, but whether or not it struck its target Bakugou didn't know. With every step the boy took to leave Midoriya behind, he felt as if he was betraying the core of who he was, but as best as an eight-year-old could he pushed down any and all thoughts that threatened to stop him; clearing his mind of anything but the thought that he was in fact clearing his mind.

There was a roar, and then a splatter, and then a gut-wrenching scream- and, suddenly, clearing his mind became impossible, as tears began to form and fall almost instantly. But Bakugou kept moving; kept hobbling his way back through the cave; back through the building that not even an hour ago had made him ecstatic with joy, and after what felt like an eternity of suffering, Bakugou left the facility.

The sound of birds singing in the trees felt like nothing more of a mockery, and the gentle breeze and sweltering sun that bore down on him from deep into the forest brought him no joy. Offended, Bakugou threw the axe from his hand and let it thud against the dirt; the sound echoing seemingly forever inside his head as the world began to blur together into a mix of indecipherable colours and sound once more and his body; heavy; tired; drained of most of its blood, collapsed forwards into the dirt next to it.

But back inside the cave; back inside the facility; back inside the replication chamber, Midoriya was dragged; still barely conscious with his lower half completely missing; entrails gathering dirt as the monster brought him back to the central pillar, before raising him from the ground and allowing the tendrils of Siva that ensnared it to latch onto him and drag him up further.

Unable to comprehend what was about to happen, Midoriya merely looked down at the monster; his vision blurry, as Siva began to have its way with him. Thin strands dug under his nails and pushed through into his hands; larger ones rammed through his dangling organs to enter his chest, before blooming to meddle with what it could find, and the remaining Siva clouds chose to enter through his mouth; through his eyes and nose, to mess with his brain. 

Through the pain of it all, the last thing Midoriya saw before his mind began to go blank; before he was sure that he was going to die, was the monster's face; twisted into confusion and shock.


End file.
